New Year's Kiss
by MS
Summary: AU, SxS... It's time for party and celebration as the new year arrives. Syaoran has a new resolution, and stealing a new year's kiss from Sakura will be the catalyst. He only has to avoid the groupies and try not to punch every male in her vicinity.


MS 

This is for all of you readers. Happy New Years!! Thank you for reading my stories and leaving your comments.

SUMMARY: Syaoran and Sakura are attending the annual new year's bash that Tomoyo orchestrate. Having made a resolution for the New Years, Syaoran is implementing a plan. He's going to be the one to steal a kiss from her lips when the clock strikes twelve.

I've written many stories in which I've made Sakura the instigator, and I've decided that I'd like to change that for a bit. This time Syaoran is going to take charge and go after what he wants. Hope you all like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the card captor Sakura characters... everything else is mine.

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**New Year's Kiss**

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"Welcome!" Takashi opened the door, Chiharu draped over his arm as the very loud music blasted through the opened doorway.

"How are you guys?" Chiharu asked as she hugged Sakura fiercely and Takashi pulled in Syaoran. They walked in pairs into the main room where the party was going strong.

"Fine," Sakura smiled as she recognized and greeted most of the people that were present in the room. "Nothing's changed."

Both groups separated a bit as they entered the throng of people. "Really," Chiharu looked over her shoulder to see Syaoran surrounded by all of the girls in their class whose enthusiasm seemed to burst the room.

They neared Tomoyo and the others that were easily conversing on a corner, their hands full of drinks and paper hats over their heads.

It was the annual party that Tomoyo threw to welcome the new year in. She had started the tradition in the eight grade, realizing that much of the kids like themselves, were left to their own devices on such a day. As the years had progressed, so had the style of the party.

There was no need for outside adult supervision now, and the music, dancing and drinks had changed as well. This would be the second year that Tomoyo would be allowed to serve champagne to her guests at midnight, as they greeted the new year in.

"Sakura's here," Tomoyo was the first to pull her in for a kiss as she went around the group and was loaded with a drink and offered many of the confections that were going around the place.

"So tell me," Tomoyo's eyes lit up, her lips curving to that infernal expression that appeared before her infernal laugh was heard. "Where's Syaoran? I don't see him hovering over your shoulder?" They all laughed, watching her flush as they all jabbed in.

She tried to get them to stop, her mouth opening and strangling refusals passing over her lips when Chiharu intervened. "No," but a smirk covered her lips as she sipped her drink. "He'd most likely stay in the shadows and glare at every male that came within a five meter range of her vision."

"Stop kidding around," Sakura rolled her eyes as she settled in one of the corners in between. She knew that it would all stop and they would move on.

The girls just looked at each other. Shrugged their shoulders and shook their heads as Sakura just slipped into the conversation smoothly. Still, they noted that as she sipped her drink, her eyes darted around the room and lingered where Syaoran and his friends were surrounded by girls from their school. They hid their smiles, just shrugging as everything returned to how it had been before. Most of them knew that Sakura had to have an inkling as to how Syaoran felt for her, but didn't understand why she seemed to be so obtuse to what was glaring at her right over her eyes. Maybe the new year would bring a change. Syaoran was very patient and very shy when it came to this it seemed, but they knew that one way or another he was going to find himself saddled with a girlfriend before January ended.

There was only so much a guy could actually take, and the assault of most of the female population in their school was something he was not going to be able to survive unless he had a shield.

They knew that he wanted her in the worst way, but she didn't seem to actually read all of the signs right. Chiharu's eyes narrowed further as she noted Sakura stiffening, her cup gripped almost painfully. She looked back, masking her intension, and found the source of the problem.

Syaoran seemed to be wrapped inside a girl's arms as she threw herself at him for a kiss. It seemed that someone had found one of the hidden mistletoe and decided to get a chance to snag a kiss from him.

Syaoran averted his head at the last second, her lips brushing the corner of his lips. Her arms were soon untangled from his neck, disappointment clear on her face.

Syaoran needed to take better care of his position tonight if he didn't want to start a riot this night. Chiharu's gaze connected with Tomoyo who seemed to be snickering silently, lightly turned to the side for the others not to notice.

Maybe they had all been warned, as she finally noticed that most of the girls seemed to be searching the ceiling for the mistletoe that Tomoyo had hidden just like all those years before inside the house.

Syaoran was searching the ceilings as Eriol and Takashi placed themselves before him and the horde of girls that seemed to have a new regained flash in their eyes. The hunt was on.

* * *

"I'm going to kill your girlfriend," Syaoran told Eriol as he locked the bathroom door behind him. Listening to the oak, he was sure that he could hear high heeled shoes rushing to it.

"You can't blame her for this you know," Eriol washed his hands as he spied the small high window that once opened could provide an escape that his friend needed desperately.

"You're the one who needs a girlfriend to scrape the groupies off."

"Why are they after me?" He sounded so desperate that Eriol almost felt sorry for the bastard. Of course that feeling went completely away when he pulled everything in perspective.

"Because you're one of the most handsome guys that actually attends our school?" It was filled with so much sarcasm that Syaoran took some drops of the water from the glass he was filling and flung it to his face.

"I should open this door and let the swarm of girls come rape you inside this bathroom," he walked to it, his hands around the doorknob as he stood pensive. "Or maybe I should charge fifty dollars for admission and let each one have a piece."

"Asshole," Syaoran merely muttered before opening the small window in the bathroom and peered outside into the garden.

"So what's your plan?" Eriol leaned against the door as knocking started.

"I'm going to try to disappear through this window, and hopefully find Sakura before midnight."

"And then what?" Eriol rubbed his temples with his fingers as he felt a migraine building inside his temples.

"Hopefully I'll have something to show for the new year," Syaoran put the toilet seat and placed himself over it. With a push with his hands, he vaulted through the small window and landed softly over a small brush that cushioned his fall.

Eriol unlocked the door softly, making sure that the growing masses outside would not hear it. He slipped over the window too, not wanting to place himself in the stampede that would happen once he opened the door. "Tomoyo's going to kill me if she finds out it was us." He grimaced over the crushed leaves and broken branches of the underbrush.

"You have an hour my friend," Eriol informed him as he led him toward a back entrance that led directly to the second floor. He'd been in the house so many times that he knew each small nook and cranny that it possessed.

"You're really desperate," he pointed out as Syaoran paced the floor of the room they had entered through the balcony and stopped to listen to every little sound that emerged from the walkways.

"This is going to be it," Syaoran continued pacing, his eyes darting to the clock beside the mantel willing it to speed up the time. Sakura was going to be surrounded by her friends until the big moment. Tomoyo was going to make everyone pair up five minutes before, just like she had the past three years and dance until the clocks stroked twelve. In the wait, the patio doors would be opened completely, and the fireworks would be set up.

With the extensive grounds that the actual estate occupied, the true raving qualities wouldn't occur until after the alcohol was given freely. It was a good thing that most of the people were now over 18 for the upcoming year.

Syaoran had always managed to snag the dance that lead to the end of the year, but had never actually acquired enough courage to place a kiss on her lips before her current boyfriend came running along and snatched her from his arms.

But this year was different. She was actually single. She had ended her relationship with ex-boyfriend number 12 two weeks before. The guy should be around the place as he attended their school, but he had been warned away.

There were many things that Syaoran had put up over the years were Sakura was concerned, but having a guy pressure her into something that she truly didn't want was something that he wouldn't let pass by. The guy was clearly in red print in the school, being called by Syaoran and his friends.

Sakura had kept him as a current date for the past two months because there was no one better as she had told him just a few days before. This was the perfect time to present himself.

He was sick of the snickering and the sly glances they got whenever they stood together in a room. The rumors and innuendo just undermined the situation, as Sakura merely laughed and brushed them off since they started in the tenth grade. He in turn just seethed within and smiled with her.

He'd been in love with Sakura for over seven years. That was a long enough wait.

He'd been there for every joker that she had dated. He had been there for every crush that she had suffered. He'd been there for the death of her very loved pet Kero-chan, even though the little monster took every chance it had to bite him. He'd been there for every celebration, for every menial task, for the study sessions.

He was tired of being the best friend. He didn't want to be the tutor that longed to slip his hands through her hair as he ravished her mouth when she looked troubled. He didn't just want to receive a hug every time his team won a game and she cheered for their victory, he wanted a kiss.

He wanted the right to take her in his arms and kiss her until they could no longer breath. He wanted the right to hold her hand and caress her cheek on a whim. He wanted the right to finally tell those jackasses that she was his, and they should keep their hands to themselves.

"You need a hobby," Eriol interrupted his thoughts, going out of his mind as he saw his friend pacing back and forth. "You're going to wear a hole through the carpet."

"I have plenty of them."

"Oh," Eriol nodded as he processed it. "True. Obsessing over a girl does take most of your time."

"I don't obsess over her," Syaoran recanted, slipping his head on the doorway to watch the darkened hallway.

"Sure," Eriol let that go, shaking his head as the wonderful quips that could have followed that response were replayed over and over in his head.

"This is it though," Syaoran informed him as he completely opened the door and waited for his friend to follow. "I'm going to go for it and see what she does."

"And..?" Eriol let it hang in the silence as they neared the stairway that would lead to the first floor and the huge ballroom where the party was being held.

"I really don't know how she hasn't figured out how I feel about her."

"Maybe she has," he let the thought out in the open.

"Then maybe this will all be for nothing," Eriol noticed the tone that slipped into the last word.

"You can't really know how she feels about it until you actually confront her about it. Maybe she's been waiting for you to actually do something that will signal the want for a deeper relationship than what you guys have sustained the past years."

"I feel so shy and awkward when it comes to her," Syaoran looked through the throng of partygoers and located his target. She was dancing with one of his friends.

"You should probably slip close through the curtains. I'm sure that Ryo will keep the others at bay while you close in on her."

"Thank the god for friends," Syaoran thanked whomever watched over him. It was time for action.

* * *

"And here comes your bodyguard," Ryo slipped his hand from Sakura's waist and handed her hand, that was hanging over his shoulder, to an approaching Syaoran.

Sakura laughed at his comment, but gladly accepted her new partner.

"Where have you been all night?" She asked, noticing the sly looks that they were given once again.

"Don't bother with them," he whispered in her ear before pulling her completely against his frame.

Tomoyo gave him a thumbs up from her place beside the DJ, whispering her orders for the next order of songs. She took the mike as more couples joined the dance floor, a few stragglers still talking and sipping their drinks.

"It's that time of the year again friends," she felt Eriol slip his hand over her waist, settling his fingers on the outline of her jeans. "It's going to be a bit differently this year as we'll actually start the last dance a bit earlier than usual." She pointed to the clock which passed forty five minutes passed eleven, leaving fifteen minutes before the new year would arrive.

"You know the rules. Take a partner and get to dancing. The music will stop half a minute before midnight, and the champagne," she enunciated the word, "will be passed with the flutes."

Eriol took the microphone from her hands. "I'd also like to add that we've placed a golden mistletoe somewhere within this ballroom over the ceiling." Everyone looked up from bellow, trying to place the sprig. "Which will lower after the clock has struck twelve. The couple beneath it will get to either kiss each other, or whomever they desire."

A stir went through the mass of partygoers and the music started. The couples moved from side to side, turning and covering each corner of the floor.

"I think they want to start a new tradition."

"I don't think Tomoyo needs something else to make this the social even of the season on our school."

"Most of these people kiss at the struck of midnight anyways."

"True," Syaoran brought her closer, his hands pressuring the sides of her waist. Their feet moved in synch as they followed the other couples that graced the floor. Sakura accommodated her body so that it would fit in between their movements and let him lead her to whichever way he wished to go.

"I've been dancing to midnight with you for the past three years now." She pointed out as his cologne overwhelmed her senses. The material of his shirt brushing against her nose she turned her head up so she could see his clear chocolate colored eyes.

"You're beautiful," he told her, mirroring the thoughts that ran through her mind at that same moment. She was used to his flatter. He always told her that while she was dancing in his arms. Being held by him made her heart thunder in a way that rivaled any other excitement.

"You're not too shabby yourself," she winked. A couple brushed past them, pushing them backwards into the middle of the floor. Syaoran smiled as he recalled the small talks they had sustained while waiting for the clock to strike in situations such as this.

"Champagne time!" Tomoyo announced as bottles were handed about and flutes were given to each person. "Keep with your partners though," she warned. The blank screen that covered one of the walls lit up, counting down from two minutes.

"Sakura," Syaoran called her name to get her attention as she balanced the flute she was given over his shoulder.

"What?"

"I have a resolution for this year," he confessed. "I'm going to go after this girl I've been in love with for quite some time."

Sakura's heart skipped at his words. "Really," she hid her face from view as the music started to wind down. "Then I'm sure you'd like to land under the golden mistletoe and get that kiss then."

"No," he grinned sheepishly at her reaction, a hopeful tug at his heartstrings giving him courage to go on.

"She's not here tonight then?"

"She's here," Syaoran took his free hand and enveloped her cheek with his palm. He ran his finger along her cheekbones, the rough outline of his fingertips eliciting a shiver from her. Sakura stood mesmerized by the emotions that were present in his eyes.

He was looking at her as if she was the most precious thing in his life. Her heart skipped a bit as he leaned his forehead against hers. He rubbed the tip of his nose against hers, his eyes closed as the contact took place, a longing smile shaping his lips.

"Thirty seconds everyone," the DJ announced as the champagne started pouring and glasses entwined.

"You are so beautiful," Syaoran opened his eyes, leaving the contact they were sharing, the rest of the room forgotten as they looked into each other's eyes.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6..." everyone joined the fray and shouts.

"I love you," he told her before settling his lips over hers.

Sakura felt as if an electric current had just been passed over her body. Every nerve ending from the tip of her toes to her scalp was jumping and raving.

The mere contact of their lips was enough to set his body on fire. The pressure building inside, Syaoran let his tongue slip to her lips. They prodded and caressed, rejuvenated as she opened her lips and let their emotions take hold.

Time was of no matter to them. Sakura anchored herself to his neck, her body gone boneless as he pressed himself completely against her. This gave a perspective of their differences, which prompted more.

"Happy new year guys!" The booming voice broke them apart, as confetti covered their bodies and everyone sung the new year song. "Our winners are Syaoran and Sakura, who seemed to have taken their boon and proceeded to give us the best kiss of the year passed and the one yet to pass."

The cheers continued as the fireworks started braking outside. Most moved through the open doors to fully watch the activities. Syaoran and Sakura managed to stay in each other's arms as their classmates congratulated them for both the new year and their kiss.

One of their friends clipped the golden mistletoe that was hanging over their heads and slipped it into Syaoran's pocket as the pair blushed under everyone's scrutiny. The group rapidly dissipated, leaving the couple for much needed solitude.

"I hope I've accomplished my resolution," he whispered to her ear before taking his flute and letting her drink, while she followed suit and gave him a drink from her glass.

"I believe you have," she responded. She took the cups and placed them on the floor. "But I have many as well that deal with yours."

"Anything I can do to help accomplish such desires?" He asked as she wrapped herself in his arms again and pulled his head down for a kiss once again.

Their lips brushed lightly. Their breaths mixing, their scents pronounced as the world disappeared around them. "Just kiss me."

"Happy New Year love," Syaoran promptly complied. This was certainly going to be a wonderful year.

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XOXO

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Happy New Year to every one of my readers. I hope the new year will give me a chance to accomplish most of my goals and publish a lot more ideas.

2007 is here, I hope you had a wonderful time with friends and family...

Review button is here...

MS

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